Two New Jersey firefighters die fighting blaze on ship in Port Newark

Five others were injured putting out fire

Two firefighters were killed and five were injured overnight as emergency crews responded to a fire on a container ship docked at Port Newark in New Jersey.

The fire began around 9.30pm on Wednesday on the Grande Costa D’Avorio, an Italian-flagged vessel carrying used cars which was docked at Export and Marsh Street, according to officials.

The blaze began on the ship’s 10th deck, and soon spread across multiple cars and multiple floors of the ship.

Officials said the two deceased were Augusto "Augie" Acabou, 45, a nine-year veteran of the Newark Fire Department, and Wayne "Bears" Brooks Jr, 49, who had been on the force for over 16 years.

"I just want the world to know that we just lost two of our best here in the city of Newark, who without hesitation, gave their lives and probably that morning didn’t think that they will be fighting a fire on a ship of 5,000 cars," Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said at a press conference, ABC7 New York reported.

The mayor described watching the two men’s bodies being loaded off the ship on a pulley system.

"That image will forever be stamped in my mind for how dangerous this job is," Mayor Baraka said.

Wayne “Bears” Brooks Jr and Augusto “Augie” Acabou died in the fire (Newark Fire Department)

Newark fire chief Rufus Jackson said after the fire that the structure of the vessel, which remains afloat and isn’t at risk of sinking, made fighting the blaze more difficult.

"It’s definitely a different structure, a different type of firefighting. This vessel was unique, because it’s not like it was a residential ship or a yacht," Mr Jackson said. "Just like every, I think, department throughout the country, there’s a big turnover of firefighters where you have a large number of members retiring all at once, and then you get an influx of new firefighters. And in a department of this size, trainings just don’t happen overnight."

“There was a mayday,” he added. “We had one of our brothers was lost within the fire. We had the brave men and women of the Newark Fire Department make the ultimate sacrifice to bring this individual out, and made multiple efforts under extreme conditions, extreme heat.”

Among the five injured, three were from Newark’s fire department and two were from nearby Elizabeth. All five were transferred to University Hospital in Newark.

One officer is in critical condition, according to CBS News.